


The Tomlinson Project

by beneathyourbravery



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Alternate Universe - Hollywood, Angst, M/M, Sideway Zayn Malik/Niall Horan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-26
Updated: 2015-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-27 03:13:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2676902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beneathyourbravery/pseuds/beneathyourbravery
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU in which Louis Tomlinson is a stylist for Hollywood celebrities and can't stop himself from aiming higher and higher when it comes to the fashion business; Zayn just happens to be his assistant and best friend; Niall Horan plays guitar quite well; Liam likes to mess with Louis' hair, and Harry Styles is in the right place at the right time.</p><p>Lightly based on "The Rachel Zoe Project" TV show.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

As soon as Louis walks in through the door, he knows it’s going to be a hard day.

The sight of his office, full of piled up boxes and dresses, makes him want to cringe and just go back home, tuck himself into his bed and sleep until the awards season is over. But he is Louis Tomlinson, the most recognised stylist in Hollywood, and he has known for a long time that he isn’t able to disconnect from work not even for a second.  
Louis lets out a soft sigh as he walks over to his desk and places his bag on top of the hundreds of scattered papers and magazines that lay forgotten on the white surface. He stretches his arms above his head, his plain white shirt lifting and showing the tan skin of the bottom of his back, and he takes a deep breath before turning around to face what he likes to call ‘the morning beast’. 

“Zayn?” He asks, his eyebrows furring in confusion when he doesn’t catch a sight of his assistant into the room. Normally, the raven haired boy would be carrying dresses around, hanging them on the closets or unpacking the products that were inside the boxe-

“I’m so fucking done with this shit!” Zayn whines loudly as he walks down the stairs holding a huge pile of recently arrived dresses into his arms, and there it is. Louis can’t see his face, but he knows perfectly the scowl that forms on the younger boy’s face when he’s stressed – which is ninety nine per cent of the time (the other one per cent, Zayn is just angry).

Louis has to hold inside another sigh as he goes over to Zayn, taking half of the pile of dresses from his arms before he helps him place them over one of the tables. The blue eyed boy turns around to face Zayn, raising an eyebrow and placing his hands on his hips the way he uses to. Today Louis styled his hair in a way that makes his fringe fall just slightly over his eyes, what, in Liam’s literal words, ‘makes his blue eyes look brighter in contrast with the brunette colour of his hair’. Louis thinks he only looks cute, but facing Zayn, with his hazel eyes and his tan skin and his perfectly styled hair, he feels as if he just walked straight out from bed to the office without looking at himself in the mirror.  
“What’s wrong today?” Louis dares to ask Zayn, already knowing the thousand problems they have and that the other boy will remember him of. “Apart from your face, which you and I both know you can do nothing to fix.” He teases, hoping to lighten the tense mood that lately has been set up at the office. 

Zayn lets out a chuckle – an actual chuckle, and Louis wants to jump in happiness because Zayn hasn’t chuckled in a whole week – before running a hand through his hair and looking at Louis with that smile of his. “Stop talking about yourself for a second, Louis.” He teases back, and if Louis wasn’t so happy of finally hearing his assistant and friend talk about something that isn’t work, he would probably tell him something about how his face is absolutely flawless and that he’s the hot one in the office, something that not even Louis believes, because, c’mon.

Instead of replying to Zayn, Louis just shakes his head and looks around the office, and this time he can’t hold in a sigh as he takes in all the different kinds of outfits they’ve got right now. It’s always this way around this time of the year, when the Golden Globes and the Oscars and all the other awards are so close, to have the studio about to explode with the mix of clothes it’s holding in. Louis doesn’t really know what he has to do today, because Zayn hasn’t told him yet, but something inside is telling him that today isn’t going to be easy.

“Niall Horan is coming today.” Zayn says suddenly, and well, what? Niall Horan shouldn’t be coming during the awards season, because he’s a singer and singers do not go to the damned Oscars and Louis still has to think about what dresses the actresses he has to dress are going to wear, and then he has to have fitting sessions with them, and he will also have to work with models for photoshots because he always has to, and why the hell is Zayn so happy about Niall Horan coming today?

“You’re joking.” Louis says instantly, raising his eyebrows and crossing his arms over his chest, as if that way Zayn would tell him that yes, it is a joke and he doesn’t have to work with Niall Horan today, because that boy will take a lot of the time that Louis doesn’t really have. “You’re joking Zayn. Niall can’t come today, you know I still need to decide which dress Jennifer is going to wear and then I have to look up for clothes for Irina’s photoshot and-“ Louis rambles, and Zayn just rolls his eyes and throws a ball of paper at him.

“He’s going to come even if you don’t want him to. It’s our job Louis, for fuck’s shake, we get paid for dressing them.” 

“Why doesn’t he pay us for dressing him when the awards season is over?!” Louis actually whines, and Zayn would slap him if it didn’t involve him standing up from his comfortable chair, and wow, he hasn’t sat down there in what, maybe three years? So he lets Louis talk and talk about how stressed he is and how they won’t make it to the Oscars until the blue eyed boy decides to sit down as well and starts looking through the new arrived magazines.

“Then you go and call me a morning beast.” Zayn chuckles, shaking his head before he stands up to start hanging dresses on the bars. 

 

Louis is furious, to say at least. That he dresses his clients with designer clothes (as if they’d wear anything else) to promote their collections, it’s not a secret for anybody. That he gets paid for doing it isn’t a secret either. But that’s his job: look for designer clothes and put them on celebrities, and then go to the Fashion Weeks all over the world to look for more clothes so he can keep dressing celebrities. That’s the reason why, when he has some designer clothes’ shop’s staff calling him to explain not so nicely that he has to go to the shop to pick up the clothes even after he has told them that he doesn’t have physical time to do it, he gets this angry.

Zayn couldn’t go to the shop because he was working on the Irina’s photoshot thing, looking for accessories and stuff they might need, and Louis knows that his assistant can’t delay that issue anymore, so he picked his bag and drove himself to the shop to take the clothes. 

And then, after having to go to the shop, he comes to his studio to find Niall Horan wearing only a pair of tight black boxers and white socks, and he’s just talking to Zayn as if it’s the only thing he wanted from them, and why isn’t Zayn trying clothes on him for whatever event the blonde has to assist to? 

“Louis! You look awful mate, what’s wrong?” Niall asks cheerfully, and okay, Louis knows he has had better times, but does Niall really have to remind him of how horrible his life is right now?

“Thank you Niall, you look good too.” Louis says tiredly, carefully hanging the dress he has just picked from the shop. “You know, the usual stuff. The Oscars are close, and, well. I’m not quite sure what my dear actresses are going to wear.” He sighs, running a hand through his hair.

“Oh, but I can help!” The Irish boy says happily, as if he really could.

The thing with Niall is that he absolutely loves to come and visit Louis and Zayn at the studio. He’s such a supportive lad, always cheering them up when they’re stressed, and offering to help even when they all know that he can’t. Louis appreciates his offering, he really does, but right now all he’s asking for is to be left alone to ponder about what dress he is going to put Jennifer Lawrence in.

“Thank you Niall, but we don’t really need your-“

“C’mon Ni, Louis has to work. Why don’t we go to the fitting room so we can try these new suits we’ve just received on you?” Zayn says suddenly, wide smile and showing teeth, and whoa, when did Zayn start to act as if he loved his job?

Niall instantly turns his head to look at Zayn, grinning and nodding before looking over at Louis one last time. “I know you’ll smash it Louis. You always do. I’ll buy all the magazines after the Oscars just to read all their wonderful comments about Jennifer’s dress!” He says, pulling Louis’ petite body into a tight hug before disappearing into the fitting room after Zayn.

 

Later that day, when Louis is sitting on his desk in front of his computer reading through all his emails and he hears Zayn huff and put down some heavy magazines, he can’t help but look up at his assistant with his lips pressed in a thin line, the way he does when he’s thinking. 

Louis is going to go crazy, he swears, because he hasn’t finished a single project today, and if he doesn’t hurry they won’t make it to the Oscars, plus all the photoshots and magazines he’s currently working in will go to shit, and then it will be their end. He can already picture how his and Zayn’s lives will be once the whole world sees how they have been unable to find their actresses the right dresses for the ceremony, when they all laugh at them and remember Louis of the words his father wouldn’t stop repeating when he was younger. “You will never make it. You will never succeed. Just stop being so ridiculous.”

But he’s Louis Tomlinson, and he has made it from Donny to Hollywood, and he’s going to make things work no matter what it takes him. So he looks up at Zayn, raises his eyebrows and lets out a soft chuckle.

“Whatever idea you have in mind, please don’t make me work more than I already do.” Zayn says as soon as he sees Louis’ face, and the blue eyed boy can’t believe he knows him that well.

“We need another assistant, Zayn.” Louis says, looking out of the window to the dark sky of LA’s night, full of shining stars that mix with the blinding lights of the buildings.

“Great. See you tomorrow, Louis.” Zayn chuckles, shaking his head as he ruffles Louis’ hair, and well, what? Why isn’t he reacting to Louis’ intelligent solution to their problems?  
But Louis doesn’t have enough time to reply, because Zayn has already left the studio, and he’s left there alone on his own once again. Louis sighs and goes back to replying emails, promising magazine directors to send them his recommendations on clothes for the season next morning, and telling himself that with Zayn’s help they’ll find someone that’s just perfect to help them.

 

“Louis, your mum is on the phone.” Zayn says, and Louis raises his eyebrows in confusion. 

In the last four days he has finally sent his recommendations to most of the magazines he works with, has received a hundred dresses, and has got Niall Horan to stop coming to the studio twice every day. Louis honestly doesn’t know why the blonde Irish boy is suddenly coming to see them that often, because yes, they’re friends, have been for a long time, but it’s starting to get strange. 

He talks with his mum and sisters at least twice a week, but it’s always him who calls them to ask how things are going. He’s also aware of the time zones, and why would his mum call him at 2 in the morning? So he stands up from his seat and takes the phone from Zayn, who’s frowning, and it isn’t his everyday frown.

“What’s wrong?” Louis breathes into the phone as soon as he’s got it into his trembling hand, which is shaking as he holds the device up to his ear. “Mum?”

“Sweetie.” Jay replies, and her voice is even shakier than Louis’ hands, and that isn’t right. “I, it’s Stan’s mum. She, the car. She had an accident Louis.”

Louis opens his eyes widely as his grip on the phone tightens, trying to process the information his mum has just given to him. He and Stan had left their friendship aside a long time ago, right when Louis decided he was going to follow his dream of being a stylist and his friend told him it was stupid. They had a massive argument back there, Stan saying so many mean things to Louis that the blue eyed brunette had to leave crying the other’s room to rush into his house, where his mum had tried to soothe him. Louis left Doncaster to go to London next week, without saying goodbye to Stan. However, he did say goodbye to the boy’s mum, who had taken care of Louis and his sisters when they were little and Jay had to work so she could feed them. The woman was so nice to them, always helping and supporting. Louis remembers being scared of what she’d say when Jay told her he was gay, fearing she would tell Stan to not ever see him again, but she had only smiled and kissed Louis’ cheek, just like his own mother had done.

So now, standing on his studio at the other side of the Atlantic, hearing his mum crying through the phone, he feels absolutely helpless, and he doesn’t really know what to do. So he glances up at Zayn, who’s staring at him with sad eyes and nods before disappearing upstairs, and Louis sits down on the floor and lets out a shaky sigh. 

“Is she alright?” He asks, and no, he doesn’t really want to hear his mum saying what he already knows she’s going to say, but a man has to do what he has to do.

“Oh, Louis.” Jay cries out. Louis just nods, even though she can’t see him, because he knows how bad she must be hurting. Stan’s mum was her best friend, had always been, and Louis just doesn’t know what to do anymore. “You have to come, I know you had a fight with Stan, but I, she loved you so much Lou. I need you to come.” She said brokenly, and Louis swallows past the lump on his throat.

Louis knows he has to go, he wouldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t go, hell Stan would personally take a flight to kill him if he didn’t go, and they might not be friends anymore, but they were some time ago, they trusted each other with all they had, and Louis cannot let him, and his own family, down like this. So he looks up at the ceiling and tries his best to make his voice sound steady when he tells his mum “Of course I’ll go”.

 

Zayn comes downstairs a while later, when Louis is sitting on his desk and looking through the same papers over and over again. The raven haired boy walks over to Louis and sits down beside him, pulling him into a tight hug. Zayn knows everything Louis has been through, he knows almost everything about him, and knows that Stan and his mum are – or were – such an important part of his life. Zayn knows the Oscars are close, and that Louis has so many things to do, but there are some things in their lives they can put aside. So when Louis starts crying against his chest, sobbing that everyone in Doncaster – included his family – will hate him because he isn’t able to go to Stan’s mum’s funeral, he just shakes his head and looks down at the crying blue eyed boy. “We’ll find a new assistant today, so tomorrow you’ll be able to fly back to Donny, alright?” And God knows Zayn makes it sound so simple.

It isn’t.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis and Zayn look for an assistant.

Louis is going to shoot himself, that’s it. Either that or he’s going to jump off the window, which, now that he thinks about it, would be quite cheaper and easier to do. Because no, Louis definitely doesn’t have enough time to go and buy a gun, not when there are two plane tickets to London laying on his desk and at least sixty girls queuing at the door of the studio to be interviewed by him and Zayn.

The thing is, Louis should be in a plane to London already, supporting his mum and Stan in these hard moments. But he can’t leave Zayn alone at the studio, not when the Oscars are so close and they still have other projects to finish before focusing all their attention on the awards. 

So Zayn had an idea. An amazing idea, actually. He set up a job interview to look for another assistant to help him while Louis is away. But neither of them thought that so many people would come applying for the job, and that at least three quarters of them would be inexperienced. It’s the awards season, and Louis just cannot leave so many responsibilities on somebody who has never worked in the fashion industry before. 

He knows what it feels like, though. He knows what it feels like to be young and passionate about fashion in general, to have a dream and wanting to make it come true, to finally make it come true and be able to shut down everyone who’s ever tried to run you down. And he wants to give people a chance to do what they want to do the most, he really does. But right now, he needs someone he can trust won’t mess up with everything.

 

So, Louis and Zayn sit on the white leather couch in the studio, taking notes and hearing all the candidates talk about how they really want the job, about how they will try their best and help with everything they can, and about how much they adore Louis because he always dresses actresses the best. But at the end of the day, they’re sitting alone again, with a notebook full of notes and a folder full of curriculums, but with no one they believe they can hire right now. Exactly seventy two girls had come to the studio, all of them fully convinced of the fact that Louis would hire them. And he really wishes he could. He wishes he could give everyone who has a dream the chance to make it come true, just like Simon Cowell did for him when he was young and all he ever wanted was to make it into the fashion industry. But it’s a complicated moment to do it so. The awards season is the most important time of the year for stylists in Hollywood. It’s the time when they’re supposed to show the world what they are capable of doing, and Louis just cannot leave Zayn alone with somebody who has no idea of how the business of fashion works.

Louis’ plane takes off at eight in the evening, and at two in the afternoon they still don’t know what to do with the assistant thing. The blue eyed boy is about to go crazy, because he can’t just fail like that to his family and Stan. He has to go to Doncaster, but he also has to work and everything is just too stressing. Louis looks up at Zayn when he brings him some food, sighing as they both start eating.

“This is a mess.” Louis says with a mouthful of Thai food, shaking his head. “We don’t have anyone to be with you while I’m away. I won’t be able to go.” He sighs.

Zayn bites his lip as he stares at Louis, shrugging. “I can work alone, Louis.” He says softly. “You have to go to Donny. It’s okay, I can work more these two days, it won’t be the end of the world.”

“Zayn.” Louis frowns, shaking his head again and turning so he’s facing the younger boy as they eat. “You know we have too many things to do for you to be left alone.” He mumbles, starting to eat again. “I wish it was easier. And I wish we could find someone to help us.” He says as he finishes his food.

Louis is about to cancel his plane tickets and call his mum to tell her he won’t be able to go to Stan’s mum’s funeral, with tears already willing in his eyes, when someone rings the bell. He frowns, because they’re not expecting anyone today. Louis wipes at his eyes and goes over to open the door, since Zayn’s in the bathroom, and silently prays that it isn’t Niall Horan because he is definitely not in the mood to deal with the Irish ball of happiness.

Louis has got the words at the tip of his tongue when he pulls the door open, ready to tell Niall - in a more or less nice way - that they can’t let him hang around today. He hates having to say that to the boy, because he’s always so nice to them, but honestly, just not today.

But it is not Niall Horan who’s standing at the door. 

Louis must truly have killed himself without noticing in the past ten minutes, because right now, he’s at the doors of Heaven, and there’s an angel waiting for him. And maybe, just maybe, Louis suddenly wishes it is Hell instead, because he wants to commit so many sins with this boy. 

He’s got green eyes and curls on his head that go down to almost shoulder length, and he’s so damn tall. He’s wearing the tightest black jeans Louis has ever seen in his life, along with a white t-shirt and an open shirt over it. On his feet, he sees brown worn out boots, and really, Louis can’t help checking him out this way. He also looks a bit sweaty, and Louis can see the top of some tattoos on this boy’s collarbones, and when did angels start having tattoos?

Louis tries shaking his head to get out of his trance, still staring at the giant beauty standing right in front of him when he finally speaks.

“Hello.” The boy at the door says a bit breathlessly, and his voice is so deep that Louis feels as if he could drown in it. 

“Hi.” Louis replies, and he feels so self-conscious about how girly his voice sounds in contrast with mystery boy’s. The blue eyed boy is trying to pull himself together and stop acting as if he was a sixteen year old who is about to ask his first love out, when he hears Zayn’s steps right behind him. So, it’s definitely not Heaven, then. He’s back in LA. “How can I help you?” Louis asks the green eyed boy.

The boy smiles, he smiles and he’s actually got dimples, and Louis is now sure that he has come to save him from life. He runs a hand through his curls, taking a deep breath before he speaks again. “I wanted to apply for the position as Louis Tomlinson’s assistant.” He talks slowly, too slowly for Louis’ liking, but he can hear a British accent in his deep voice and honestly, Louis is doomed. “I know I’m like, three hours late but, my car broke down.” He excuses himself, flashing his smile again.

Louis wants to ask Zayn to hold him before he blanks out, because he didn’t know that someone could be that beautiful, and he can’t believe that this boy is asking to be his assistant. The interview finished a good while ago, but they haven’t got anyone they want to hire yet, and Louis wants to give the beautiful boy a chance. It’s not just because he looks good, though. Louis just wants to give him a try, he wants to see what the boy can offer to them, because everyone deserves a chance to do what they like the most. And judging by the accent in his voice, Louis can tell that the lanky boy has come a really long way to get to his studio.

“It’s totally alright. Come in, you can sit down on that white couch, yeah?” Louis says softly, pointing to the piece of furniture and raising his eyebrows. “What’s your name?” He asks, because he just needs to know.

The boy has already sat down when he answers Louis’ question. “I’m Harry. Harry Styles.” He replies, and Louis just nods as he sits in front of him, next to Zayn.  
“It’s nice to meet you, Harry. I’m Louis, and this is Zayn.” Louis says, smiling at their candidate. “We would like to know about your experience and why you’d like to get the job?” He tells Harry, and Zayn is ready to start writing down whatever he has to say. 

After twenty minutes of hearing Harry Styles’ deep voice talking about how he got his Fashion degree in London, his experience in some designer’s boutiques, and telling them that he came to Los Angeles a month ago looking for a better job, Louis knows he has to hire this boy. Zayn isn’t that sure, though. They both walk over to the dressing room so Harry won’t hear them deliberate about his appliance, and in between dresses, shirts, shoes and accessories, Louis starts giving his professional opinion to Zayn.

“He’s the only one with proper experience, Zayn. He’s got a Fashion degree, and he has worked in boutiques! Honestly, I think he’s the only person that has come here today that could help us properly.” He says, biting his lip softly. “And he is British, c’mon.”

Zayn chuckles when Louis is finished talking, raising his eyebrows at him as he crosses his arms over his chest. “Yeah, you’re right. Like, he’s the only one who seems to have a slight idea about this whole fashion thing but, do you think we can trust him? He’s only 22, and I’m not sure that he’s ready to work with us.” He says, sighing softly.

“You and I, Zayn, have been younger too. Simon gave me a chance when I was 22, and you came with me at 21, too. And yeah, we have improved a lot in these past three years, but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t need to be given an opportunity.” Louis tells him, raising his eyebrows. “It will only be two days, Zayn. If when I come back you believe he can’t help us, we will tell him to go. But let’s give him a chance. Please?” He pouts, and Zayn lets out a soft giggle, nodding along to his statement.

“Yeah, let’s give him a chance. You have to go, anyway.” Zayn smirks, walking out of the dressing room and leaving Louis speechless. The short man furrows his eyebrows as he wonders why on Earth Zayn has just smirked at him. 

 

Louis walks out of the dressing room right after Zayn, smiling at Harry once they both have sat down again. He pushes his fringe away from his eyes, raising his eyebrows as he stares at the lanky pale boy who is sitting right in front of them. 

“So, Harry. Would you be willing to come back here tomorrow morning?” Louis asks, and he swears he can feel his heart skip a beat when Harry’s dimpled smile is shown to him again.

“Yes! Yes, of course, oh God, thank you so much!” Harry says, his voice full of glee, and Louis is about to ask Zayn to physically hold him so he doesn’t stand up to hug the curly haired man tightly. 

“No, Harry. Thank you, honestly. You don’t know how much you have just done for me.” Louis replies, and if behind his smile there are some reasons apart from work ones, well, he can’t be blamed.

 

Louis lets out a heavy sigh once he is finally sitting on his plane seat, rubbing at his eyes with his tiny fingers. It has been such a stressing day, and he hasn’t even thought about which dresses he is going to choose for the Oscars. The caramel haired boy looks to his side when he feels someone sitting down in the seat next to him, smiling warmly at Liam Payne. Louis has known Liam for more than three years now, when the stylist decided to hire him as his personal hairdresser. Since the very first moment, Louis has felt so comfortable with Liam, with the way he can make him laugh and feel better even in his worst days, and they are something close to best friends now. Not that Louis believes in best friends, though.

“Long day?” Liam asks in that tone that makes Louis feel relaxed.

“The longest.” He replies, letting out a soft chuckle before the flight attendants start giving them the safety instructions and the plane takes off.

During the ten hours long flight, Louis and Liam have more than enough time to talk about almost everything before they fall sleep, Louis’ head on Liam’s strong shoulder.  
Right before he drifts off to sleep, Harry’s smile flashes through Louis’ mind, and he hopes that things will get easier from now on.

 

(They don’t.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis goes to Doncaster.

The flight from LA to London is ten hours long, and Louis had been hoping to catch a few hours of sleep in the meantime. However, he only manages to nap for hardly two hours before he wakes up with the shape of his hand printed on the side of his face. Louis lets out a huff before changing his posture, stretching his arms in front of him and making his back crack a few times. It has been a while since he has travelled for this extended period of time, and the blue eyed man guesses that his muscles aren’t used to be sitting during such a long while.

Louis turns his head to take a glance at Liam, who is not bothered by the fact that Louis can’t seem to stop moving around now that he is awake. The stylist ponders for a moment whether he should wake his personal assistant or not, but he finally decides to let poor Liam rest, at least a little more.

The thing is, Louis is so glad to have Liam by his side right now. Overall, he is glad to have him by his side whenever, because no matter how famous or relevant Louis is, he is still only twenty five years old, and it is not easy to face every stressful situation without someone there to support you. He has Zayn, of course, and Louis wouldn’t trade his assistant for anybody else in the whole world. The both of them have shared the best moments in Louis’ life, and somehow you could say that they’re best friends. Maybe they are. But Liam is different. He doesn’t work with Louis, he works _for Louis_ , but it makes no difference in the way Louis treats him. Liam always offers moral support for Louis, always helps him disconnect from work, and on top of that, he makes Louis look good. (Maybe it is due to the fact that Liam was hired as Louis’ personal hairdresser. Who knows?)

A smile makes its way into Louis’ face when he looks out of the window and meets an ocean of thick clouds, his thin lips turning upwards at the corners, because right now he is good. He is alright. He is safe.

 

_Louis was born without a father. When the tiny blue eyed baby was born, Jay was way too young, and she was also alone. She had been scared when she found out that she was pregnant, but after some reassuring talk with her family, she decided that she would have her baby. Her first born. Her son._

_Louis was the cutest baby, and his mother made sure that he had everything he could ever need, even if that meant working every day and night, sun or rain, Monday or Sunday, without rest. The small boy spent so many days with his grandparents while his mum worked, and when she finally found a stable job and bought them a tiny house, just for the two of them, Louis had been so happy to finally get to be with his mum._

_When Louis was five years old, it was finally time for him to start school. The tiny boy had been terrified, so scared of being away from his mum – or someone from his family – for the first time ever. However, when he was led into the classroom by the teacher, he instantly noticed a boy sitting on a corner playing with some cars. Louis had never had any kind of nice toys, apart from his stuffies or whatever his grandma decided to give to him on Christmas, so he waddled over to the other kid and sat down to play with him._

_Stan became his best friend in that exact moment. From then on, Louis and Stan went together everywhere. And the fact that Stan lived right in front of Louis and his mum only helped them to grow a stronger friendship. Of course, the both of them had more friends: Oli and Calvin were great too, but if Louis ever had to choose, he would always go for Stan. The both of them always played football together, always got in fights at school together, always trying to defend each other. They were the best of friends, and nobody could change that._

_Louis’ mum became best friends with Stan’s mum, too, and it meant that Louis got to hang out with Stan so much more. Whenever Jay had to work, Louis would stay over at Stan’s, and if Stan’s mum ever had to go anywhere, the boy was more than welcome at Louis’ house._

_Everything had always been so good and easy in Louis’ life, even when one day his mum came home holding a man’s hand to tell Louis that “this is Mark, love, and I hope he will be around for a long, long while”. Even when Jay got married to Mark, and when Louis’ sisters started coming into the world. Everything had always been great._

_Always, until he realised that he was oh-so-attracted to Luke._

_Louis had been sixteen back then, and he had never thought about dating anyone. He had seen Stan hanging out with a few girls during the past two or three years, and his best friend had never refused to tell him anything about how his dates went. But Louis, well. He had never felt attracted to a girl – or to anyone, really. He had never felt the need to spend more time than usual with someone, to wrap his arms around them or kiss them on the mouth._

_That is, until a new boy came into his class._

_His name was Luke, and he was the most beautiful boy Louis had ever seen. And no, he had never thought that a boy could be ‘beautiful’, but watching Luke, Louis found himself wishing he could get to know him better, and also wishing he could get to taste his lips._

_Of course, Louis was scared. He had never seen a boy dating another boy at school, and even though he knew it was completely normal, he was afraid that people would start to hate him. He didn’t want his mum to be angry at him, and he didn’t want to lose his friends, so he decided to hide his feelings. Louis didn’t tell anyone that the new kid in class made him want to melt into a puddle on the floor._

_“C’mon, Lou, I’ve seen how you stare at him, mate.”_

_“What? What are you talking about? How I stare at who?”_

_Stan and Louis were hanging out together at Louis’, sitting on his room while they ate the muffins Jay had got for them, and the blue eyed boy swore he was going to choke on it._

_“Are you serious, Louis? I’m talking about that Luke guy! You two talk a lot in class, and you stare at him differently.” Stan said with a smile, his eyebrows raised as he chewed on a bite of muffin._

_“Are you jealous that I speak to him? Is that what you mean?” Louis tried, but he already knew that there was no way he could hide it from Stan anymore. “Alright. Alright, you win. I think he’s handsome, and he is very, very nice. Do you hate me?” He asked before holding his bottom lip between his teeth tightly._

_“Are you stupid? Look, I’ve dealt with you for what, eleven years? How am I going to hate you for being gay, Louis?” Stan chuckled, patting Louis’ shoulder friendly, and just like that, he could breathe again._

_It was Sunday, and Louis was having breakfast with Jay on their garden since Mark had taken the girls out to go to the zoo. And Louis knew that he had to tell his mum before she found out by herself. He trusted her more than anyone else in the whole world, and what could possibly go wrong?_

_“Mum.”_

_“Yes, sweetie?”_

_“I like a boy.”_

_“Alright Lou, go for him then!” Jay cheered without thinking about it twice, smiling at Louis so reassuringly that he wanted to start crying because yes, he was so, so lucky._

_Louis dated Luke for more than a year, before things started to get weird between them and they broke up. But it was okay, because Louis already knew who he was, and nobody was going to stop him._

_When Louis turned eighteen, he decided that he wanted to study for a Fashion degree at London College of Fashion, and that’s when things started to go wrong with Stan. They had always been together, since they were so, so little, and Stan couldn’t understand why Louis would want to leave Doncaster to go to London._

_“There’s a university here Louis, you don’t need to go to fucking London.” Stan had said angrily. “And you want to study Fashion? Are you serious?” He huffed. “That’s for girls, Louis.”_

_The truth is that Louis hadn’t thought about something like this happening. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that Stan could be angry at him just for wanting to study for his dream to come true, but it seemed like his best friend wasn’t going to deal with it._

_“Fashion is not only for girls, Stan. Do you even know who Alexander McQueen is?” He asked with a little giggle, hoping to lighten the mood between them. Louis wasn’t really willing to fight with his best friend over something he was so sure of. “I want to be someone in the world of fashion, Stan. I’ve wanted it for years. Plus, I’ve already signed in to the course.” He said softly. “Why won’t you support me now?”_

_“Because you don’t care about anyone but yourself, Louis. Fuck, are you going to leave your mum alone with your sisters? They’re still little, but you’re so selfish that you don’t fucking care.” Stan spat at him. “And me? You’re going to leave me alone now, after everything we’ve been through together. I can’t believe you.”_

_Louis remained quiet, his eyes fixated on the floor while he listened to Stan’s words. His words hurt worse than being stabbed, but Louis wasn’t going to attack Stan. He could never do that._

_“I’m so sorry Stan, but you know this isn’t for you. I, it’s my dream and, I want to be happy, you know? There’s so much more in the world than Donny and, I want to make it. I want to get out of here and show the world what I’m capable of.” Louis said with a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips._

_“Yeah, you’re right, aren’t you?” Stan stood up from his bed, where the both of them had been sitting. “You know what? Fuck off, Louis. I can’t believe that after all this time you’re still so fucking naïve, seriously. You’re an asshole, you don’t care about anyone but yourself, and I wish only the worst for you right now.” He almost yelled, and Louis couldn’t believe it._

_Stan had been his best friend since they had been five years old, but that day Louis left his house crying brokenly._

_A week later, Jay drove Louis to London, his four sisters sitting on the backside of the car, and the blue eyed boy never said goodbye to Stan._

The plane lands at Heathrow around two in the afternoon, and Louis hasn’t been to England recently enough to remember how awful jetlag is. He walks into the airport along with Liam, and the both of them pick up their baggage before calling a taxi that will take them to Doncaster. It is also strange for Louis, to travel in a taxi, but he doesn’t have a car in England and he is not willing to go to Donny by bus, not at all.

 

Jay already knows Liam, so it doesn’t surprise her when her son walks into the house with his personal assistant. Liam lets the both of them have their privacy, taking their bags upstairs while Louis hugs his mum tightly. Louis hadn’t seen her in way too long, and even if the reason why he is in Doncaster right now isn’t nice, he is always happy to spend some time with his mum.

“I’m so sorry you’ve had to come, Lou, but I just, I can’t do it alone.” Jay says with tears in her eyes, and Louis truly hates seeing his mum cry. “The girls knew her too, but, it’s Stan’s mum. It’s Stan.” She whispers, and the blue eyed boy swallows past the lump in his throat while he nods. Because Louis knows, he knows that it doesn’t matter that he hasn’t talked to Stan in almost seven years, only texting him on Christmas and on their birthdays, because Stan’s mum is above what happened between the two of them.

“I know mum, I’m here now, yeah? It’s gonna be alright, I promise.” He smiles, pressing a kiss to Jay’s cheek. “I’m happy to see you again, though, even if I hate the reason why I had to come.” He says, sighing before walking upstairs.

 

Louis walks out of the shower and into his old bedroom, with a fluffy blue towel wrapped around his waist. He has a black suit laid out on his bed, one he likes quite a lot, along with a white shirt. He gets dressed, making sure everything looks good on him – he is a stylist, he has to look good always – before he calls for Liam to fix his hair.

When the other man walks into the room, a frown appears on his face while he stares at Louis.

“What’s wrong now, Liam?” Louis asks confused, looking down at himself.

“Louis, uhm.” The hairdresser says, biting his lip softly. “That suit, it doesn’t look good on you. I mean, the suit itself is exquisite, like everything else you own, but. It’s too big for you.”

The blue eyed man raises his eyebrows, looking at his reflection on the mirror. Maybe his shoulders are a bit too dainty, and the jacket falls off them a little, and maybe he has had to tighten his belt a bit more than usual to make the trousers fit him, but he doesn’t look bad. Does he?

“Do you think so?” Louis asks worriedly, looking up at Liam. “Am I too thin for this suit? I have another one, I can change.” He mumbles, looking down at his feet.

“Louis, it’s just. Maybe the other one is more appropriate. Just, try it?” Liam offers, but his kind brown eyes are filled with worry. Louis has always been curvy, has always had a body to envy, but right now, he looks like he is wearing a suit two sizes bigger than his. Liam knows that it’s due to the stress; it always happens when the Oscars are close, but he can’t let anyone start speaking about Louis being too thin. He doesn’t need that kind of promotion, he truly doesn’t.

 

When Louis arrives to the funeral, along with Jay and the oldest of his sisters, he is wearing a different suit, a smaller one. Liam has styled his hair in a quiff, and he is wearing sunglasses, but right now, Louis really doesn’t care about how he looks. He only wants to see Stan.

It doesn’t take long for Louis to spot him, close to the closed coffin, and he tells Lottie to stay with their mum while he walks over to him. It might be the hardest thing Louis has ever done.

“Stan.” Louis says once he is close enough, and the other boy turns around to face him. Louis’ appearance has changed quite a lot, but his voice hasn’t. He hopes it will never change. He takes his sunglasses off, deep blue eyes staring into Stan’s.

“Louis.” Stan says, and he looks surprised to find him there. It might offend Louis a little.

“I’m so sorry, Stan. Truly. I, maybe everyone is telling you the same but, she didn’t deserve this. And I mean it.” Louis says, his gaze wandering down to the ground. “I’m so, so sorry. I hope you can stay strong through this, even though it’s hard. Too hard.” He mumbles, patting his former best friend’s back before turning around to walk away.

But there’s a hand on his forearm, keeping him from walking away. Louis turns around only to find himself being pulled into a tight hug, and he can’t help but hug Stan back. It has been too long since they have interacted, much less hugged.

“Fuck Louis, I’m sorry, I’m fucking sorry.” Stan says, not letting go from him. “It’s not the place but, we really need to talk. I can’t stand this, Louis. I miss you.”

A smile tugs at the corners of Louis’ lips while he shakes his head, sighing contently. “It’s alright, I promise. I’m staying until tomorrow night, so we can talk later?” He says. “If I’m honest, I miss you too. But don’t let that get to your head.” He smiles before patting Stan’s back.

 

When Louis gets onto the plane back to LA, he’s got a monkey emoji written next to Stan’s name on his iPhone, and a promise to talk every single day.


End file.
